2006 Nickel Disappointment

[TJ'S Coins]

I teach a class of junior high students. In order to expose them to the coin hobby I regularly give them new coins that I purchase from the mint. Today I opened a roll of nickels that I had recently received from the mint and was very disappointed with the quality of the coins on the obverse. Only three would rate an MS64, none higher. Most were heavily bagmarked in the field right of Jefferson's portrait. One can see the flow lines of the metal with the naked eye (which isn't all bad). What disturbed me most was the abrasions in this field on several of the coins that totally disrupted the luster. This gives the coins the appearance of an EF obverse. The flatness of the strike on modern US Coins is another disappointment but that can be saved for another thread. Sorry my camera is not working properly so I have no images to share Any of you have similar experiences with the new nickel in rolls from the mint?

[Hoot]

This is the message that I'm hearing about the nickels in both rolls and bags. I believe that the 2006 nickel business strikes will be fairly challenging to find in MS65 and above.

 

Hoot

[TJ'S Coins]

I scanned a copy of one of the more abraided coins in the roll that I opened. It is attached to this note. The white in the field right of Jefferson's portrait is where the luster has been abraided away. I have showed this coin to several people today and all of them thought it have been circulated and not fresh from the mint. Sorry for the poor quality of the scan, I'm still learning this technology.

[Hoot]

Terrible - the coin, not our scan! Unfortunate for the collectors the Mint is supposedly serving.

 

Hoot

[coinman1794]

That nickel is struck through grease and the roughness is actually a mint made imperfection.

[physics-fan3.14]

That nickel has a very common error called strike-through. If a spot of grease, or cloth, or wire, or anything, gets caught on the planchet or on the die, the impression of the coin will bear the impression of the material. This error is extremely common on coins, and really is not good. What is interesting, especially if you just opened a fresh roll, is to trace the progress of this spot. You can chronologically order the coins into an interesting display, showing the progression of the spot. I have a series like this from a roll of Michigan quarters I opened. It's not worth anything, but it is interesting and educational.

[TJ'S Coins]

Thanks coinman and physics-fan! I checked this coin out further under my 10X loup (which I didn't have when I opened the roll) and you guys are right about the die grease. Unfortunately I gave a number of the coins away already from this particular roll so I will not be able to track the progression as physics-fan suggested. Those who received the coins didn't mind the imperfections even when I pointed it out to them. They were happy to get a coin that we have not seen in circulation in these parts.. These chats are a great source of solid information!